Most People
by Atra Aduro
Summary: Most people, Hidan mused, would assume his immortality was linked to Jashin. Most people would likewise assume that there was no way he could be killed. Most people would be wrong. Hidancentric oneshot, explores Hidan's past.


(A/N:)

Hi, this is Chelsie with my third oneshot.

This one is very Hidan-centric, and describes my version of his past.

I guess there could be a smidgen of HidanxKakuzu at the end, if you squint, stand on your hands, and hold your nose.

Just a smidgen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. I do not own Hidan. I do not own Kakuzu. I don't own Akatsuki. I do, however, own the plot. So there. XP

* * *

It was funny, Hidan thought, as he lay on his bed in the room he and Kakuzu shared. Most people, most of the Akatsuki included, thought that his immortality was a result of his bond to Jashin, both the religion and the God. Most people just assumed, that since the religion was based heavily on self-mutilation and sacrifice, the immortality must be a part of that package. Really, what religion would have its own followers stab themselves through the chest in elaborate rituals without ensuring they survived to do it all over again? That's what most people thought. They just assumed the white-haired shinobi had attained his immortality the moment he signed the blood oath that converted his to Jashinism.

Most people were wrong.

In fact, Hidan's immortality had nothing to do with his religious beliefs. It was just a lucky chance that he had this particular trait, the one that made him so valuable to Jashin-sama. It was no coincidence that Jashin as a religion and as a god were practically unheard of. The initiation into the religion itself was brutal, and more than ninety percent of all candidates failed, that is to say, died, within the first ten minutes. After the initiation, life got even more brutal. Followers of Jashin often starved themselves to the brink of death, or practiced self-mutilation in such a way that another eighty percent died within the first six months. After a few years in the monastery where all newcomers were forced to live, many of the remaining followers committed suicide, which was the ultimate self-sacrifice, and went to meet with Jashin-sama. So high was the death rate, that the religion only had about twenty members at any given time.

Hidan's immortality had allowed him to surpass all of these tests with ease. Sure, there was pain, a lot of pain, but it was all to Jashin-sama's benefit, so it was a pleasant kind of pain. In fact, he had accepted all forms of punishment so easily, and lived through them all, that the other followers of Jashin where hailing him as the prophet, the one sent to purify the world once and for all. They, too, believed that his special abilities were a gift from Jashin-sama, a gift to prove the god's existence, and to help his vessel save the lost souls of the world.

They, too, were wrong.

The immortality that Hidan possessed was not, in fact, a gift from Jashin. Nor was it a reward for being induced into the religion. To put it quite simply, it was a bloodline limit. A kekkei genkai, a unique trait passed on from one generation of his clan to the next. Among his clan, it was called _Itsumademo__Junsei_, or Eternally Pure. To rivals of his clan, however, the bloodline was known as _Funen__ Oni_, Everlasting Demons. It usually became prominent around the age of adulthood, eighteen for males, and sixteen for females. The bearer you then be stuck in that body for the rest of their life.

Another common misconception was that the wielders of the bloodline could not be killed. This, too, was untrue. After a person possessing the Itsumademo Junsei transformed into the skeletal black, or 'perfect' form, that person's opponent needed to ingest the blood of the immortal, and the effects of the bloodline would be reversed. By taking their own life, one could kill a number of clan members at one time, once he had ingested their blood. Hidan, of course, did not need to draw his religious symbol when he transformed, but did so as a sacrifice to Jashin-sama, letting the blood he spilled be offered to his supreme god.

* * *

Around five hundred years ago (Or was it six? Hidan has lost track after a time…), when Hidan was seventeen years old, a masked stranger had come to his village. The man was bulky, had a mask covering most of his face, and piercing green eyes. One day, centuries later, Hidan would come to know this man as Kakuzu. Anyway, this man had discovered the secret to destroying the Itsumademo Junsei. While others had thought the bloodline was perfect, as its name suggested. This man knew better. He knew that no bloodline limit was perfect, and had therefore researched the members of Hidan's clan for decades, trying to figure out its secret. Eventually, he had.

Now, when this stranger had come into his village, Hidan had only been seventeen years of age. He had not yet activated his kekkei genkai. So, when Kakuzu took the blood of every one of the elders, and slaughtered them, Hidan was powerless to help. He watched in horror as the man first killed all of the adults, and then murdered all of the children. He left no survivors, as all the adults in the village had the bloodline, and the children may develop it. The masked man walked over to a petrified Hidan and tilted his chin up, forcing the young man to look him in the face.

"You are old enough to have developed the Itsumademo Junsei , and yet you have done nothing to stop me." The man leaned down into the youth's face. Hidan recoiled with disgust. This man's breath smelled like Death, with a capital D. "How does it feel, boy, knowing that you can do nothing while I kill your family?" Hidan's red eyes moved to the body of his mother. His father was a few feet away. His eyes traveled farther to the left, passing over people he barely knew…people he didn't care about…they came to rest on the body of a young girl, lying face down, a kunai sticking through the back of her platinum-blonde head.

_Kawari_

Hidan wrenched his eyes from the prone form of his sister, and turned towards her murderer, shaking with constrained fury. "You fucking prick! She was just a child!!" He roared, launching himself at the masked man. He managed to get a few good punches in before Kakuzu backhanded him and sent him sprawling in the dirt. He moved to get up, but was stopped as the older man hit him once again, and pinned him against a building. Hidan tried not to look at his sister's body, now less than five feet away. Instead, he focused on the man in front of him, suddenly aware that his life was in danger. The man's green eyes were narrowed, and he leaned forward, his mouth less than an inch away from Hidan's left ear.

"You might want to think before you try something like that again, boy." His breath felt hot and sticky against Hidan's ear, and the young man resisted the urge to pull away, knowing it would be unwise to do so. "I could kill you now, what difference would it make to me? I came here to kill all holders of the Itsumademo bloodline, and I have done so already. You are nothing to me." Once again, Hidan had to bite his tongue. This man thought him older than he actually was. He thought Hidan would never achieve his clan's kekkei genkai. If Hidan only minded his tongue, he might live. The man continued to speak, "I could kill you now, and nobody would care. But, no, I think I'll let you live. It is much crueler to let you survive with the knowledge that you couldn't do anything to save your clan, than to kill you straight out. However, your little act of insolence will not go unpunished."

The masked man drew his hand back, and Hidan flinched, expecting a hard punch in the face. Instead, Kakuzu grinned wickedly, leering down at the boy. "No, that wouldn't be quite painful enough," He said, reading Hidan's thoughts. He drew his arm back as far as it could, and black tendrils shot out from under his sleeve, hardening and sharpening into spears. Hidan's eyes widened with fear, then clenched shut with pain as his parents' murderer drove his fist, and the black spears, into his stomach. The man let him go then, and Hidan sank to the floor, teetering on the brink of unconsciousness. He looked up at the man standing above him, and somehow managed to speak through the blood gathering in the back of his throat. "H…h…How? Wh…Why?" Hidan's red eyes were unfocused with pain, and he struggled to remain awake.

The man looked down at him for a moment, seemingly considering whether or not the questions were worthy of an answer. He appeared to make up his mind, and bent over Hidan, speaking in a brisk, cold voice. "Boy, your clan is not the only one to have found a way to extend their life span. I, like, you, am the only survivor of a group with a unique kekkei genkai. I can absorb the hearts of my opponents, increasing my lifespan indefinitely. I merely killed one of my hearts after taking blood from that store your clan kept in case a member got too wild. I've studied the kekkei genkai that you never achieved for years, starting long before you were born. I discovered your secret." The man got up and turned to walk away. "Oh, and as for why…there was an enormous bounty for anyone who could find and kill the wielders of Itsumademo Junsei. It looks like I'm a rich man, now, thanks to your family." With that fond parting, Kakuzu turned on the spot and sprinted away, presumably to collect his money. Hidan's last thought before he blacked out was that his family had been killed, not by an enemy clan, but by one man, one greedy man who had foiled them all.

When Hidan next woke, it was night. He wasn't in any pain, and he looked down at his stomach, expecting to see a hole, perhaps some of his innards spilling out into his lap. Instead, illuminated by the moonlight, he saw black skin, with a skeletal outline… Hidan had activated his kekkei genkai, at seventeen years of age, and a few hours too late to help save his clan.

It wasn't until a week later that Hidan, still living in his village, although he had buried the dead, realized that his clan was gone. Completely. He was the last one left. It hit him like a bulldozer, and he burned the village down in a fit of depressed rage.

The next fifty years were a blur to the silver-haired man. He traveled from town to town, village to village, stealing or doing odd jobs in order to survive, always keeping a low profile, always on the lookout for a masked man with a piercing green gaze, and the breath of the dead.

Nearly a hundred years after that, Hidan received a vision in his sleep. Following the directions he somehow knew, he ended up at a seemingly abandoned church. He entered, and was met with the scent of blood. Hidan had found the official Church of Jashin.

Four hundred, sixty-three years after he was declared a priest, Hidan joined the Akatsuki. A man shrouded in shadow introduced him to his partner, Kakuzu, saying they were alike in their immortaliy. The man had stitches covering the small portion of his face that was visible, a long black cloak, and startling emerald eyes. Hidan felt the breath leave him, and the other man felt the same thing. Each recognized the other from centuries ago, and each remembered exactly what had happened that day. The two launched into a fight that resulted in several broken bones, a pierced heart, two punctured lungs, a damaged kidney, and many cuts and bruises. After that fight, neither dared to challenge the other in a duel, though their mutual contempt was not kept a secret.

Hidan chided Kakuzu's addiction to money, remembering that was what had motivated the man to kill his clan.

Kakuzu reprimanded Hidan for his lengthy religious ceremonies, remembering that no such thing was need to activate the boy's kekkei genkai, and how he had let the shinobi get away.

Neither ever forgave the other. Neither ever forgot.

* * *

Now, Hidan stared at the ceiling, contemplating he and his partner's past. For some odd reason, Kakuzu had never told anyone about Hidan's bloodline limit. Maybe he'd come to respect the younger man. More likely, he was too ashamed that he had let the boy get away in the first place. Now, whenever Kakuzu collected a bounty, he made sure to kill anyone and everyone involved, not wanting a repeat performance.

Hidan, however, had his own quirks left over from their first encounter. Up until that fateful day, he'd never uttered a curse word. Now, however, it seemed as though every other thing coming out of his mouth was a profanity. Also, without Kakuzu, Hidan would most likely have never found Jashin.

They didn't let their dislike of each other hinder their job, though. The two appreciated the benefits of having the other as a partner. Kakuzu, although ill to admit it, secretly thought about how Hidan, complaining all the way, had helped him out on various bounties. Hidan realized that, with the very same tendrils that had once pierced his stomach, Kakuzu could save him much pain and energy by sewing random body parts back together again.

They still didn't like each other, Hidan thought, but they had helped form each other into the people they were now. And, now, after being partnered together for three years, they couldn't exactly call each other friends, but they were no longer the bitter rivals they had started out as.

Maybe, Hidan mused as Kakuzu came bursting into the room, complaining about Itachi spending five dollars on a stupid bar of soap, just maybe having his whole clan slaughtered by Kakuzu wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to him.

Most people would assume that, after everything the two had been through, they would hate each other completely.

Most people would be wrong.

* * *

(A/N:) Okay, well, that's that.

It took forever, and I'm not that happy with the ending. But, whatever. Its done, and that's more that I can say for a lot of other things.

If you have any requests or suggestions for new stories, say so in a review, and I'll try to comply.

Also, please forgive the horrendous Japanese. I'm definitely not fluent, and I only speak a few random words and phrases. I just thought that using Japanese terminology would help make the story seem more authentic. If there are grammatical errors, please tell me in a review?

That's it for this time.

Peace.


End file.
